Outmatched, unprepared

Tennessee's Fulmer didn't live up to his name vs. Florida

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Phillip Fulmer has the highest winning percentage of any active college football head coach.

He’s won 97 games, and likely will get to 100 sooner than anyone in history but Barry Switzer or Tom Osborne. And he’s led the Vols to two SEC titles and a national championship.

But Saturday against Florida -- at a stadium that sits on the street that bears his name -- Fulmer got outmatched by a guy coaching just his fourth game.

And not by a slim margin, either.

Despite having an extra week to prepare and the luxury of seeing what Miami did to dismantle the Gators just two weeks earlier, Tennessee had a meltdown of epic proportions.

Much like their SEC championship game against LSU last winter, when they came out flat despite an invitation to the national title game waiting around the corner, these noticeably overconfident Vols apparently took Florida’s loss to the Hurricanes as a sign they could take this game off.

How else to explain eight fumbles (three of them lost), 11 penalties and some highly suspect play-calling and game management?

“The buck starts and stops with me,” Fulmer said in one of the year’s bigger understatements. “We made enough mistakes out there to lose two games.”

Most of the mistakes took place in the second quarter, when Tennessee, in mind-numbing fashion, fumbled on four consecutive offensive plays and six out of 10.

“The second quarter was an embarrassment,” said Fulmer. “I apologize to the fans.”

But at least the fumbles were somewhat explainable -- under a constant downpour, Neyland Stadium’s turf was starting to resemble a Slip 'n' Slide.

Scientists could study the tape of this game for hundreds of years and still not figure out how a highly ranked team, in its first big game of the season, could be flagged multiple times for such easily preventable penalties as delay of game, ineligible receiver downfield and 12 men on the field.

“Obviously, when you play some of the bad teams, they do some stupid things and you’re able to score points quickly,” said Florida QB Rex Grossman. “But against a team of that caliber, it’s shocking.”

Said Tennessee defensive tackle Demetrin Veal: “We weren’t a disciplined team.”

That, as Fulmer admitted, rests on the shoulders of the coaches. So, too, do some questionable decisions that may have made it even harder for the Vols to win.

Despite the return of dangerous deep threat Kelley Washington and the loss of starting tailback Cedric Houston to a thigh bruise in the first quarter, Tennessee wouldn’t budge from its close-to-the-vest attack for most of the contest, something Fulmer has been criticized for in the past.

More puzzling, the centerpiece of the Vols’ offense somehow became fullback Troy Fleming, who came into the game with just six touches. Fleming was the Vols’ leading rusher, with nine carries for 42 yards, and he also caught a team-high eight passes.

After seeing him get just two catches for 20 yards in the first half, Tennessee came out of the locker room determined to get the ball to Washington, throwing to him the first three plays. He finished with seven catches for 102 yards, but it was too little, too late.

While the outspoken Washington’s cocky antics are notorious, he was hardly the only Vol talking big earlier in the week. Several players made mention of the Gators’ struggles against Miami, possibly stoking the fire Florida was feeling from its many critics.

“Even at some of their own press conferences, they were talking about Miami,” said Florida CB Keiwan Ratliff. “They overlooked us just because Spurrier went to the NFL.”

Unfortunately, despite his multitude of accomplishments in Knoxville, Fulmer’s legacy has been tainted by games like this one. Whether it’s a matter of overconfidence or being overrated, Tennessee seems to fall on its face just when the opportunity arises to take the next step forward.

After struggling for so many years to get over the Florida hump, Fulmer felt like he’d finally gained redemption with last year’s upset win at the Swamp. Then came the collapse against LSU the next week, and suddenly Vols fans were left with a letdown trip to the Citrus Bowl.

Now, with Spurrier gone and the Vols supposedly loaded, this was supposed to be the year Tennessee beat Florida back-to-back for the first time since 1970-71.

Instead, just like so many years of the Spurrier era, the Vols are left to take care of their own business and hope the Gators fall twice in SEC play.

If the Vols are looking for an exercise in how to stay focused, perhaps they should look across the sideline to Zook and the Gators.

To the disbelief of most, Zook remained calm in the face of criticism following the Miami and Ohio games, claiming he could see the Gators getting better. Saturday he was validated, and yet he hardly seemed moved to say “told you so” afterward.

“I’ll enjoy it a lot tonight, but we have to be ready to play next week,” said Zook. “This one was big, but they’re all big.”

That, right there, is the biggest lesson Fulmer and the Vols have yet to learn.

Stewart Mandel covers college football for CNNSI.com.

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